Special Election In Wagoner County Could Impact Sales Tax

Wagoner County is holding a special election that could have a big impact on the county's sales tax.

Wagoner County currently has a 1.3 percent sales tax, but the county is proposing a half penny increase on that tax.

Some of the propositions to use the additional money include making permanent the taxes for bridges and roads, sheriff's operations, and the general fund.

The new half penny sales tax would be allocated to the Wagoner County jail, the fairgrounds, and the courthouse.

One of the biggest changes on the current tax involves splitting the .3 percent tax from support for fire departments to also include ambulance and emergency response.

"The county does not have an ambulance. The ambulance service for unincorporated Wagoner County are provided by municipalities so Broken Arrow, Coweta, Wagoner, and also neighboring counties such as Muskogee County. And so there are large portions of the county that do not have good ambulance coverage with large wait times," said Rachael Cooper, Wagoner County Engineer.

Election day is March 5, which is also Oklahoma's Presidential Primary Day.

Here's the breakdown for each proposition:

• Makes 0.8% tax for roads and bridges permanent

• Makes 0.1% tax for Sheriff’s office permanent

• Makes 0.1% tax for general fund permanent

• Changes 0.3% tax from support for fire departments to ambulance and emergency response by Wagoner County Ambulance Authority (This 0.3% tax would be split in half. 0.15% would go towards fire departments, and the other 0.15% would go towards establishing a new ambulance authority).

• Levies new 0.125% tax for Wagoner County courthouse complex facilities

• Levies new 0.25% tax for Wagoner County jail facilities

• Levies new 0.125% tax for Wagoner County fairgrounds

The first four items make up the current sales tax in Wagoner County (1.3%). The last three items make up the proposed 0.5% sales tax Wagoner County is looking to add.